Proto Man's Journal: Looking for Kalinka
by tourise
Summary: A bad bot, a human girl, two bikes, a legend. [Based on RS cartoon universe]
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**Proto Man's Journal: Looking for Kalinka**

_Disclaimer: "Mega Man" and all other related characters belongs to Capcom_

_Author's note:_

_This story is sidequel of my other story "The Brewer", and based loosely off from the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. _

_It's suggested to read both of the stories together, since this story is took place between chapter 12 and 13 __on "The Brewer" time-line. It is still okay if you only have time to read this, Proto Man will tell you what had happened by himself,._

___I am happy to acknowage someone is reading my fic, you can also feel free to leave any comment here._

_____Warning: This is Proto Man's story__, __written in Proto Man's first person perspective._ Not much of Mega Man will likely appear in here.  


* * *

**0. Prologue **

So, I decided to spit it out, but nobody listen to me, so I write.

I don't know how to explain what I am, or what my name is. I have been called a lot of names. When I was first activated, I couldn't find my own name on my database, so my master, Dr. Wily had given me a name. Since then, I became the right hand man of Dr. Wily, most of the robot masters called me boss, pretty much like the convicts calling the prison guards in the TV drama, I don't like it. My freelance partner Enkar and Ballade call me Jackass, my sister called me Jerk, and Dr. Light called me…better not to mention that. After I fake my own death in the explosion, I was wandering on the streets in New York, the three run away from home kids I saved calling me Jake, since this name sounds more normal than the rest, so I accepted it. Since then, whenever people have asked about my name, I told them my name is Jake.

I have a birth name, a name that had never been used, nobody had ever called me that before i took off my helmet in front of Dr. Light. The funny thing is I didn't know about that name at all, until Cossack brings it up by coincidence, I insisted not to use that name because I am not that person, it is not right if I "stole" it From someone else, I will ruin it.

Up until recently, I have got a nickname as "Cracker biker", which was given by a group of cyclists I met on my journey. Terkina only called me "Cracker", and that name is reserved by her. Thanks to her propaganda, this nickname had become famous among the cyclists on the west coast, and it all because of the cracker tin on my rack…that's a long story to tell.

Only they didn't know, I am the most notorious robot in the world, the fearsome robot warrior, and a humanoid robot, Proto Man.

* * *

I am on my own, and that literally means I have complete freedom. The most direct reason led to this result is my master, Dr. Wily, has been kidnapped and being held hostage in some underground city in Siberia or some shit. I tried to rescue him, but I was heavily outnumbered, I had no choice but flee. Unlike the countless failures we encountered during our attempts on world domination in the past, this time we have complete failure, not only Wily is gone, most of the robot masters were captured by the police, I believe couple of them are still on lose though； I have to fake my own death to get away. That's the worst failure we have ever had.

Skull fortress has been taken over by the government's forces now, I suspect the company has association with the government, only that can explain adequately why the government's forces decided to attack skull fortress while me and Wily were trapped under the "Company" 's underground war factory.

I promised myself I must bring Wily back, no matter he is dead or alive, he is the closest person I ever had, he saved me, made me, I am nothing without him. I will follow him unless he says he doesn't want me around anymore. My power is not enough to take him back now, all I have to do now is to wait, and gather some powerful allies, then wait for the opportunity to strike back. I don't care how long it will take, maybe myself would be ruined in this process, I don't care about it anymore.

That's too much on my history, it will take a year if I go on and on with this, but I won't, what past is past, let's put them behind and concentrate to deal with my own problem now.

* * *

Despite I am alone, that doesn't mean I am wandering around the world without any purpose. I have to go find Dr. Cossack's daughter, I promised him when I nearly get myself killed in the underground facility, since he had helped me out, and I will keep my word to return the favor.

My journey begins on 1st May, the day I finish my contract work on the Hawaiian cruise liner. The idea of this trip was originated when I was working on the ship as a pianist, I guess there are not much people know that I can play piano, this is not one of the preprogrammed function of mine, I learn it all by myself, to fill up the boring days in skull fortress. One night when I was playing poker in the canteen with my colleagues, that's the way I "earn" some pocket money, and they don't who they are playing with, poor stupid bastards…. A Japanese chef joined in and bragged about how he travel from France to Japan on a bike when he was young, the other guys laughed and mocked him, then the chef went back to his cabin and took out an old journal, showing us the proves of his tracks.

My eyes grow wide when I saw that journal; I took it over and read it, the journal recorded this man's journey, maps, train tickets, pictures, everything is inside, and the postmarks are the most attractive thing to me. I had even asked him if I can borrow it to read it, the chef said yes, just don't wreck it because this is his treasure nowhere can buy.

I took the journal back to my own cabin and studied it through every page, just like a new world is hidden inside. There is a world I have never known. Travel on bikes? That's the way of traveling I had never thought of. I thought the humans are lazy; they only travel by cars, trains or airplanes. Besides, humans are not robots, they would get tired and hungry all the time, why would anyone perform such self-abuse action just for fun?

I was wrong, and soon I will know. There are a lot of maniacs in the world, a lot more than I imagine.

I studied that journal for all night long, my circuits were so excited that I couldn't let myself recharge, I felt like every inch of wire inside me is jumping. I still can clearly remember the frowns I saw on the manager's face the next day when I played the wrong notes for at least five times on the lunch session.

The lack of recharge for a day or two wouldn't affect a robot's performance too much. I got missing keys during the performance because my mind had been puzzled with what I read last night. I was so excited that I have finally found something I wanted to do. For an ex-terrorist bad ass robot who have lost everything, this kind of traveling suits me too well; this can take me away from the world of hatred and gets me closer to the peace of nature; make my journey more fantasy and intangible than it already is. If it is possible, I would go get a bike and begin my journey at once, but I was stuck on a ship in the middle of Pacific Ocean back then, I had to at least wait until the ship docks.

I did not pick a very good one, since I couldn't afford those nice bikes in the shop, plus I didn't know anything about bikes and I didn't have time to deliberate on it. I bought my bike from the black market, this bike looks a bit different from the others, the most significant thing is its thick top bar on the frame, it looks weird but I think it should be strong enough to support my weight. The bike cost me one hundred and thirty dollars.

That was a mistake, I should have known that when I buy cheap, that means I will have to pay more for maintenance. In fact, the bike I bought is a piece of shit, except the frame, that's Terkina's conclusion afterwards, a girl I met on my way, I will introduce her later. I didn't believe her, my thinking is it is good as long as it still able to ride on, I don't care about how it looks.

Unfortunately, she was right, the bike has a dozen of problems itself, and caused me a lot of trouble afterwards; the suspension fork was a phony, there isn't any elasticity at all; the rear derailleur is crap, it's not usable, only the front derailleur is working; The breaks are working fine, on flat terrain…when it comes to downhill, I have to use my feet as the breaks as well; The seat post is full of rust, and the seat is worn, even the last piece of sponge had came off, it's fine for my titanium ass, because I won't feel anything, but for humans…I'm afraid their butt will be slice into pieces, I don't even want to imagine how painful that would be.

* * *

Before I start my manhunt (perhaps I should call it womanhunt) mission, I spend a night in an internet café, to watch the news, check emails, get the exact location of the target I need to find, and search for anywhere interesting to be my next destination.

When I logged into my email account, all I see was the flood of advertisement emails in my box, but I still can see the few mails from those three kids in New York, they still remember me, how sweet. Oh right, this email account is setup for them specially, to be precise, these boy drag me to Internet cafe and force me to setup an email account in the first place. I don't have anyone to contact, so what do I need an email for? And that's why I didn't even have a phone when the journey began, this make me miss these boys even more.

While I was browsing the internet aimlessly, I saw an advertisement of Las Vegas, and made me think of three of my former colleagues: Ring Man, Metal Man and Crystal Man, in skull fortress we called them "masked team" because all three of them don'th have a mouth feature in their design. These three are born gamblers, cheating masters; even I don't dare play a hand with them.

The location of skull fortress is not very far from Las Vegas, less than five hundred kilometers, if these guys managed to escape when the fortress was under attack, they probably went there.

When I walked out of the internet café the next morning, I had already made up my mind：I am going to Vegas after I find the Cossack girl.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 1: College Issues

1. Girl and the tunas

* * *

It took me nearly six hours to get to the college where Dr. Cossack's daughter was suppose to be, I had never thought a bike trip would take me this long, but I found cycling a great sport, I can enjoy the freedom I had never had.

I had never been to a university before, accept that experimental robot university setup by Dr. Light. That was different, most of the students in that university were experimental robots, there were some human students of robotics in there, and most of them are male, that proves the theory of female not familiar in mathematics and mechanics is true. Honestly say it would be a lot easier to find a girl in there.

Since university is a place for young humans to study, it would be difficult to find out who is Kalinka Cossack. I can't simply go out and ask every girl what her name is! I am only an ex-gangster, not a freak. I don't want to attack any extra attention either.

There was another problem; I didn't know how she looks like, I didn't even know which subject she is studying, there is only one thing that contains the information I need to know: the student name list of the whole college.

* * *

I have to hack into the university's database if I wanted to get the name list…No, wait, why do I have to do such thing? I want to find a girl, not perform an armed robbery! I have to stop myself from getting things done by violating laws and orders.

I don't know it is my programming, or because I was on the bad side, rules and regulations don't work on me too well. When I am on a mission, I prefer get things done as simple as possible, I don't really care if there were a thousand laws broken, they can't actually accuse a robot of breaking laws anyway. In fact, they can't even accuse Dr. Wily of my action.

According to the common laws of robots, all robots must have installed an identity chip on their body before they were activated. Every buyer or owner of a robot must apply for the license for owning a robot. Hence robots are count as the property of their registered owner; a robot owner is responsible for any inappropriate action and destruction done by a robot.

But there are cracks in the law. First, the lawmakers weren't aware of some people are able to create robots on their own and NOT register their robots, just like Wily. Second, they have never expected there are robots can perform actions on their own volition like I do, and third, they assumed robots can't lie, which is a big mistake. In that case, if me or any other Wily's robot get caught during a mission, there is no prove that our action had been instructed by Wily. There is no prove that we belong to Wily as well, since all the robots created by Wily has no identity chip on them (except the ones stolen from the others, like Guts Man and Cut Man). All they can do is to get us reprogrammed, then put us on the product list in an auction, or scrape us.

I have never known that I have an identity chip on me, I had always believed that I was created by Wily, he didn't admit by himself, and he had never told me who my creator was though. The stupid chip is located where I am not able to remove it myself. The worst of all that matters, I have found out my official registered owner, is Thomas Xavier Light!

Why? Why is it has to be him, not someone else?

Originally I don't bear any special emotions towards Dr. Light and his cosy lab, not since I pretended to switch sides two years ago. He had never shown any special care towards me like he does to my siblings. I didn't feel like having a warm welcome. In contrary, I feel lonelier than I was stuck in skull fortress. Perhaps that feeling came from my brother and sister's mistrust as well; they were trying to avoid me, even in the lab; they always whispering something among themselves and went totally silent when I entered; I felt like an outcast, my heart( keep telling meto run away from there. Long story short, they were rejecting me, not just them, but everyone, there was an invisible wall between us, I will never be one of them.

If they didn't treat me like that, perhaps I would switch sides for real.

I had tried to smooth the situation a little, since the lab wasn't a good place to talk; I invited Rock to have a private conversation in the middle park. Turns out Rock finally revealed his actual feeling about me: I am a freak more twist than a car wreck.

No matter how people taunt me, insult me, humiliate me, I can still wear my smirk on my face and pretend I didn't hear that, because I don't care. But these words from my own brother stab right into my circuits like a knife, that hurts, and it hurts very much. Although he said that he always wanted a real brother relationship with me afterwards, that didn't help any, how would I believe that you always wanted a real brother relationship with someone you defined as crazy, as a freak?

I was trying to do what they wanted me to do to make them happy, and they still treat me like I was tainted. I was angry, I decided to stick with Wily's plan and make them pay. I swore to myself I'd rather die than going back to Dr. Light's lab.

Up until now, I still hate that place.

* * *

Shit. I am daydreaming again; the recall of the painful memories doesn't help any on my mission. I need to concentrate on dealing with my life now.

I better start with the simplest way; I am going sit through every lecture, and they might have a name list of the students to record their attendance.

This might take me a week to attend every lecture in the campus, but this is the safest way to get the information needed, and I could have a nice place to recharge by the way.

I slip into a lecture hall and choose a seat on the back, I looked around to see where the attendance name list was, and then there was another late student arrived, and he put his student card against a card reader, with a sound "Beep." Shit! This campus is using a smart card system to count the attendance for the students!

My plan had failed; I knew things was never this easy, now I am going to try a less subtle approach for now. Plan B it is.

I used the paper I found in the recycle bin and draw a huge poster, and put it on the message board near the main entrance during the night. It read "Terkina please call 545-555-0100, the tuna you order arrives."

I know this looks stupid, but this is the way Dr. Cossack had told me, to contact each other by using the traditional code of his family, "Terkina" is Kalinka's nickname, "tuna" means father, and the word "dozen" means "urgent," this is to make sure the message sender is the real Cossack and not from the spies. I wasn't sure if anyone would understand this, I only hope the girl would see this and give me some response, I had doubts but I got to try. In fact, the number mentioned in the message is NOT my number, I don't have a cell phone, and it is the phone number of a grocery store near the university.

I got myself a small time job as the delivery boy of the grocery store so I can see through every delivery order in the store. Three days had passed, and there was still no sign from the Cossack girl, I began to feel a little edgy about this, did she get my message?

Three more days gone by; there was a strange delivery request: a dozen cans of tuna, the address was in a small rental apartment near the campus, and the caller called herself Miss C.

That's it! I finally got paid from all those hard work! But still I had to be careful, this might be a setup to lure me out, last time they tried to use my brother and Dr. Light as the bait, it was just lucky for me managed to save them from the trap, I don't want this happen to the Cossack girl as well.

I was there standing in front of the door where the cans of tuna are supposed to deliver; I studied the surroundings carefully to see if there is anything abnormal. It was six in the afternoon; the sun was setting peacefully down to the horizon. I was ready for anything would happen when the door was open. Fighting is never a problem for me, the thing that troubles me was a girl, like I said before, I don't have much experience to get along with females.

After five minutes of hestitation, I pressed the doorbell.

A young female opened the door; she has beautiful of long blonde hair, triangle face, honestly say my first impression of this girl is: she looks nothing like Dr. Cossack, I would doubt if she said she was Cossack's daughter.

"Here…here is the tuna you ordered."

"Oh, thanks" The girl replied casually and took over the bag with the tuna from my arms, "So you are the guy who posted that message?"

"Yes...er...no." I don't even know what I am saying. "So...are you…Miss Cossack?"

"What do you think?" The girl leans against the door frame, brushing her hair.

"I don't think so." I spit it out directly, "But you know her, right?"

"I know her, but she is not here, I was her roommate and a good friend, and she graduated from this place two years ago."

"Huh? But her father told me that she is supposed to graduate this year."

"Yeah...she was supposed to be, but she wanted to speed up her progress so she can go study the subject she likes, she used two years time to finish a four-year duration course. Incredible, wasn't she?" The girl says as she took out a can of tuna from the can and inspecting it.

"But where is she now?"

"I don't know, she didn't tell me her location. We only contact each other by emails. I am just doing a favor for her, she knows her father would send someone here to find her someday, and my job is telling them the truth. Just like what I told you just now."

Another clue was broken, that's getting even harder to locate the girl. I wasn't about to give up yet.

"Did she mention where she was going before she left? Or did she say what she is going to study next?" I was trying to obtain every last information to gain more chance to get the job done.

"Humm, she has a lot of interest herself, last I heard from her is already 10 months ago, she said she was going to participate in a big project in botany or biology, or something in a research institute. That's all I know."

The information too minor to do anything with it; I was frustrated, and I will have to start again.

"Well, thank you for telling me that...um…Miss…?"

"My name's Monique." We shook our hands, "and you?"

"My name is Pro…er…no, I mean…Jake, nice to meet you."

That night I went back to the message board and ripped off the poster I put on it, then I lay flat on a branch made out of stone in a quiet corner of the university campus, stared at the dark void above me. This was one of the times I felt frustrated and having no body to talk to.

"What should I do now?"

* * *

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 2: Las Vegas

**2. Las Vegas **

* * *

I didn't leave San Francisco at once after I found out the target was not here, I stayed around the College for another week, the campus is bustling and hustling as always, I like this sort of place, at least I am not alone.

But the main reason I stayed was about Monique.

Since I know the company is looking for me, then I assumed they are also looking for Kalinka too, to hold her hostage to control Dr. Cossack. If they wanted to take Kalinka, then they must have been monitoring this place already. That weird poster I posted on the message board would likely catch their attention as well. Long story short, Monique could be in danger.

If a girl gets harm just because of answering my message, I won't forgive myself.

But what if the girl was sent by the company to track my movements? Or maybe she wasn't telling the truth?

As a person living in the dark side for most of my life, I just couldn't bring myself to trust a complete stranger that easy.

So I started to trail off the girl for a couple of days, and I have done some research on this girl and what she told me about Kalinka. Turns out she is quite a normal student after all, and what she had told me is likely to be true.

Alright, maybe I was just paranoid.

It's not that I don't want to trust people, this is about survival. I believed that there were a lot of people wanted me dead in person, and that sucks if I catch the police's attention, plus there is couple of irritated arm dealers, as in "the company," trying to dismantle me to get my internal information, there were enough shits on my plate, I don't need more enemy! I don't want to die yet.

* * *

There was a time I really wanted to make an end to myself, that's when Wily has been taken, and I got cornered by the police, there seems to be no way out for me. And then I have heard my brother's voice, he was using his communication device and connected to mine directly, trying to convince me to surrender.

For the first time in my life, I cried.

I don't know why I cried, but I did. That was the only time I remembered I cried.

* * *

I have been drifting away too far; let's get back to the girl Monique.

I even went to the bar with Monique…To be precise; she came to me and asked me out. I…agreed shamelessly.

I had never gone to the pub with a stranger before, definitely not with a girl. We talked about a lot of things, not only about Kalinka, it feels great to have some company and someone would listen to me talk, being normal isn't that bad at all. Too bad I couldn't tell her my real name.

To make myself fit in with the in crowd, I had finally bought myself a cell phone, which was under Monqiue's suggestion; she introduced me an electronic shop in China Town, saying that was the cheapest place to buy. I know most of the humans cannot leave home without a cell phone; I have seen so many times the students taking a picture of themselves using the phone, and I had seen students playing games on it during the lecture. I used to think this is stupid, but I am doing exactly the same thing myself right now!

My first picture on this phone was taken with Monique.

Confirmed my target was not here, and then there was no reason for me to stay in SF, so I decided to leave. But I was still a little worry about Monique's safety, so I told her if there is any strange shit happened, she can call me and help, she send me the picture of Kalinka in return.

There was nothing else to do in SF, I have to move on, my journey was finally begun!

Next stop, Las Vegas!

Las Vegas is about 1000 kilometers from SF, and there are three routes to get there, I chose the longest one, this route would pass through some small towns through south California. Then I could start collecting postmarks on my new journal. These postmarks can show when and where I have been, and they will be a milestone for the rest of my life.

If the humans can cycle 100 kilometers per day, then I count myself could ride at least 150 KM. If everything goes well, I will arrive at LV in a week.

That's what I thought.

* * *

In fact, I used ten days to get to Vegas, I should be faster than that, both of my bike's tires burst on the way, when I was fifty kilometers away from Tehachapi, I didn't have tools or spare tires, I pushed that bike and walked through the night in the dark and dry desert until I arrived California City. That was the hardest situation I have ever been, uh, maybe not hardest, not harder than performing Wily's crazy missions.

I didn't have a tent, I didn't even have a sleeping bag, the main reason for that is I didn't know what I should bring and what I shouldn't, I didn't have much outdoor experience (Um, except those outing for performing Wily's plan, but I ddin't have to carry anything myself back then, so that doesn't count.) My bed is where I laid down on my back, I don't really care about comfort. In the five years time I spend in Skull fortress, I have learned how to beguile myself to be content, how to cope with the environment, and to make the best out of limited resources.

I started to miss my cosy mattress back in the fortress.

It was nine in the evening by the time I stepped into the main street of Las Vegas. This is the first time I have been to this town, the flashing fluorescent signs of casinos nearly blind my visual circuit, what a nice place! How come I haven't been here before?

Las Vegas is the biggest city near Skull fortress, but Wily doesn't seem like Vegas too much, at least I had never seen him go there, nor trying to take that place for his own. I have overheard that he used to create a device to count the cards in the game of Blackjack, and win a lot of money with it. Finally, he got caught when he was using that same device to scramble the electronic code on the slot machine; he hit the jackpot for five times in the same day. Turns out neither the police nor the casinos could charge him for cheating, because they couldn't figure out how that device worked. He still got away with the money he won, I have even heard that he used that money to buy the land where Skull fortress is located, but he was also banned from every casino in the world after that.

Wily is a genius, but also a fool. If he weren't too much of greed, then he would have won more than that.

* * *

I was pushing my bike and strolled on the pavement of the ostentatiously prosperous street, I couldn't believe I hadn't been here before. I saw a familiar guy outside a rather big night club, this guy was dressed in black leather jacket, sunglasses, a red bandana covering his face and out of place looking cowboy hat, then I look at the guy's red metallic feet, I already know who it was.

Metal Man!

He was hawking something to the tourists, I didn't see what it was, so I waited for him to finish this "business," I put my shades and hat on to pretend to be a tourist and walk past him significantly, and he stopped me.

"Hey, mister, you are the first time to be here, right? Do you want to go have a VIP style in this number one night club of the town."

I took over the card he handed me, it was a VIP card of a night club, but I didn't think that piece of paper worth shit.

"VIP huh?" I still pretend to get hooked, "What is this for? Have a discount to get drinks?"

"You can get into the club faster!"

"Enough with that, I guess I am always a VIP." I took off my hat and my shades.

"Pro…Proto Man?" Metal Man mumbled. "I thought you were…"

"That's what the news says, right?" I expected anyone who sees me still standing would say that, and this is the answer I made up for myself. "If I did, I wouldn't be here talking to you."

"That's…great, I have to tell the others." Metal Man took out his cell phone and made a phone call immediately. Shit, his phone looked even better than mine.

"So, what's your plan? Where are you staying, boss?"

"Uh, I just arrived this town, I have got no place to stay, I come here to look for you guys."

"Maybe you can come aboard with us, with your ability, we will soon take over this town!"

What sort of nonsense that was, are you trying to fool me? I wouldn't believe that 'we' can be able to take over anything by selling VIP cards on the side of the road. But it was great to see some familiar face in a totally strange town.

"The guys will be surprised to see you still alive." Metal Man said as he led me towards an alleyway.

Metal Man opened a trunk door of the van. Two robot masters were sitting inside counting the money; it was Crystal Man and Ring Man.

Ha! I knew you three bastards would be here.

"Look who I found hanging around."

"Proto Man? Aren't you died in that explosion already?" They exclaimed at the same time.

Shit. Not this question again, although the question had only been asked twice, I already find that annoying, and I have got a feeling a lot more is coming up. Damn it, can't you guys simply wishing me to survive?

"Darn you! Do you think I can be eliminated that easy?" I was getting a bit of annoyed, but I had to pinch my own temper down for now, I needed to ask them for a favor, and I wanted to get a safe place to lie down quick, this bike trip was much more tiring than I thought. "I will tell you my story later. I had a lot going on, and I am tired. Do you mind letting me stay in your place for the night? I need a place to rest."

"Sure, we call our driver to take you there."

They even got a driver? Needless to say that must be one of the robot masters. I just couldn't guess who it was.

Moments later, a dirty, dusty car came by, the driver stepped out of the car, and that really surprised me.

It's Top Man!

We both frozed for a few seconds before we realized it's true.

"Proto!"

"Top Man!" We gave each other a fist bump.

I tended to maintain a good relationship with most of Wily's robot masters; there are only a few ones I couldn't get along. It's my job to know everyone's character and special abilities so we can cooperate better during the operations. Top Man is one of the few that can be trust, we are friends.

"I told you he wouldn't die this easy!" Top Man said cheerfully. At least there was someone still having faith in me.

"Alright, we will talk later. Top, you take Proto back to the crib; we still have to work a little more."

"Let's go dude."

* * *

Top Man drove me to their 'mansion' in the outskirts of town, the house looked not so bad from the outside, there even have a garage and backyard! Looks like these bastards are doing okay themselves.

Once Top Man opened the door, I already know this is just a fraud, the wallpaper had been peeled off; the floor was scattered with the rubbish and cans and pizza boxes, this is an abandoned house.

I am not obsessed with cleanliness, but I hate it when the place is THIS dirty.

Whatever, at least there was a ceiling and mattress here. I chose a room with a king size mattress on the second floor, lay down and shift into recharge mode immediately, I was so tired; I didn't even have extra energy to care about other things.

* * *

The next morning when I woke up, they were still recharging, I washed my clothes and hung them dry on the roof, and I cleaned up the garbage inside the house, I really can't stand living in a trash can.

When the guys woke up, we had a little conversation; I told them about what happened to me and Wily, I owe them an explanation. But I didn't tell them the part I rescued Mega Man and his family, I also didn't tell them what my encounters with Mega Man in Hawaii, I don't think they would be too keen on that.

"What are you going to do now?" Ring man asked

"I am going to take Wily back, and take back what we have lost. I will fight anything they throw at me."

"You can't do this alone; I've got your back, boss." Top Man said.

"No, it's "we' got your back, we will help too! Right pals?" Crystal Man stood up and says.

That was really semimetal, honestly say I was impressed, but I still I could sense some unwillingness by Metal Man and Ring Man's gesture, they only nodded constrainedly.

"If you don't want to, that don't matter, I am not going to push. I would fight them even if I was alone."

"No, we are down. When are you going to action?"

"Good, I have to do some preparations first, and get some more allies; 'The company' have got some serious resources, heavier than any foes we fought."

"One more thing, you guys need to keep this secret, I can't let anyone know that I am still alive. If any of you spill any words on that, I can promise you I will blast you into dust, understand?" I wasn't really meant to threaten them, but I had to, because if they tell people around that I am alive, I was the one who will be in trouble.

"Sure, man, sure. Don't ask, don't tell, complete discretion, military grade."

* * *

After the trio had gone off to work, Top Man drove me to show me around the city.

"What the hell are they actually doing here?" I asked, as I suspect that selling VIP cards wasn't their real job.

"They are doing some gimp work for the mafia, lending money to the broke asses, collecting debts, ripping people off, take out the rivals, excreta, excreta."

"That really suits them. Do you know anyone else is here?"

"Pharaoh Man is here, he is the mascot of that Ancient Egypt theme casino, very popular too."

Pharaoh man? That's great for him, he got caught by the police on the first mission he had, he ran too slow. He is the reason I know the police will get us reprogrammed and sell us after they catch us.

"But why are you rolling with them? I thought you wouldn't run away like that."

"They dragged me into the car when the fortress was under attack, I didn't want to leave…I just couldn't help myself back then, so…I ran away without a fight."

I was upset when I heard that, only if I was there…no, only if I didn't leave skull fortress with Wily, none of this would have ever happened.

But the things had already happened, it happened before I realized it were too late. There is no way I can look back now.

"Shit, only if I were there…"

"You don't have to blame yourself, all you did was just trying to help Wily get back on his feet."

"That's my fault, there is no one else to blame." I moaned, I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth though, the fact that skull fortress was under attack was because I stole the god-damn Brewer.

That damn thing is still on the middle finger of my left hand, I felt guilt every time I saw that thing, I had thought about throw it away, but I have to keep it as a bargaining chip of Wily's freedom. This Brewer thing seemed to be crucial and precious to the company, I still can't figure out how to use it yet, but they will get to me if they really want it back, I am sure of that.

* * *

When Ring Man, Crystal Man, and Metal Man return to the house in the evening, the trio circles around me and yelled.

"Proto, we got you a job! A pianist in the buffet lounge at Kaligula's Casino, as you wished. But there is something more we need to show you."

"What is that?" It's grateful for them to get me a job, and a job I liked, but the word 'something' sounds funky to me.

"WE are going to show you the real deal in this city." Metal Man said and dragged me onto their van. "Come with us, I am sure you will like it."

I felt like walking into a trap, but I trust these guys wouldn't dare setting me up. Alright, let's see what these boys are up to, I was interested to see what they were actually doing here anyway.

The boys drove me to the back door of a casino and led me walked down several levels of stairs, then came to stop in front of a stainless steel door.

"You are ready, Boss?" Ring Man asked deliberately.

"Cut that shit out, What is that noise?" I was getting annoyed.

Metal Man opened the door, all I heard was the sound of yelling and screaming from the human crowds, the place is like a huge funnel, with full of crowds sitting in there, and there was a stage like thing in the middle, a wrestling ring?

It is not like any typical wrestling ring, it is bigger, and there are fence surrounding the stage, making the people inside looked like an animal in a cage.

"Welcome to LV cage fight, Boss!" Metal Man announced.

A Cage fight?

* * *

**To be continued….**


	4. Chapter 3: LV Cage Fight Part 1

**3. LV Cage fight, Part 1**

* * *

A cage fight? I had never thought of that sort of thing ever exist for real, not to say to participate into one.

The place I just walked in was the auditorium, not the stage, which means these rust buckets are setting me up with something.

"What am I supposed to do here?" I asked

"We need someone to sell beer to the audience for us." Metal Man answered, my thinking was just right, but that wouldn't be this simple.

"You drag me the way across town, to sell beer?" I tried to linger a bit of anger to make them tell me the truth.

"Be cool, boss. The boy who works for us called sick, so…just one night, we will give you your cut, pleaseeee."

I grinded my teeth; I should have known they'd ask me to do shit, but I will help them this time, since I have to ask them for a favor. I am not going to participate in these fights anyway. Watching people punching each other would be fun sometimes.

Metal Man handed over a set of clothes; it is a shirt with horizontal yellow and black strips on it, and there is huge bee logo on the back. "Here is your uniform, and the beer container, have fun out there!" and bolted away.

"Shit, you didn't tell me I have to dress in this!" I don't like to complain at things, even if it gets really sucks, but this time I just can't help myself.

"One more thing, this hat suits you right!" Ring Man placed something over my head; it is a hat with two antennas on it, just the ones on butterfly's head.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Damn suckers, I did not do anything to offend you guys, did I? Do you have to play a joke on me like this?

When I walked out of the changing room, I felt like I looked completely like a bee. I could see both Metal Man and Magnet Man laughing hard on the other side; even they don't have a mouth.

I am going to kill you both!

* * *

This place is not like any other sports event or an act; this place is full of bastards and the smell of blood. Most of the people here are the gamblers who think the casinos on the ground are not fun enough to throw their hard-earned money away. Some are here to seek for excitement; the rest are the people who are trying to prove their hearts are still beating by beating someone.

Magnet Man told me that these fights are controlled by the biggest mob in this town; not even the law can interfere with this business.

The fighters have to sign on the "Release of liability." before they are up on the stage.

I was busy the whole night selling beer to these bastards; it cost only one dollar per glass, much chapter than the bar outside. And I don't have to worry about my energy source tonight.

There are not many people in the world know that I can drink alcohol as energy source, I know Mega Man knows that already, and Dr. Light seems to know about it too. It seems that I am the only one of my kind who can do that. Wily claimed that he had invented an energy converter that can transform alcohol into plasma energy, and installed on me as an experiment. But no one knows why he didn't apply that thing on any other of his robots.

To me, it's not that convenient to drink alcohol as energy source. I have to 'eat' a certain kind of enzyme to neutralize the alcohol, and for the worse of all matters, the convert ion process of turning alcohol into plasma energy creates water. I have to discard the excessive amount of water in my body from time to time. Yes, just as you think, I have to micturate like humans do.

That sounds ridiculous, isn't it? That's only one small part of the ridiculous things in my ridiculous life. That's why I'd prefer to have energy cans other than 'drink' alcohol as energy source, maybe that's the reason Wily didn't apply this function on other robots too.

* * *

I was distracted by the fights on the stage often; I must admit these one on one human fights are nothing to compare with the fights I have fought against my own brother Mega Man. At least we both fights for the purpose that is not for our own sake, and both of us had bet our lives on it, even when we are fighting for opposite sides. Every time I went out to make Wily's world domination scheme into real matter, I had prepared to die out there with no regrets. Mega Man didn't say it out loud before me, but we both are warrior robots, I think he probably has the same thoughts as I do.

Thank god me and my brother were able to get home safe and sound for the most of the time after Wily's plan failed. All except the last time, that's a total disaster...Heck, I don't want to think about that now.

Every time when a human got himself beaten up by the other and fell down on his knees, my circuits get jumpy. Part of me was so excited to go out and join the fight, I didn't even know why, but another part of my mind told me to stay still and sell the damn beer. The most annoying thing was the human audiences; they yelled "Kill him!", "Kick his ass!" or "Knock his head off!" every time when one of the fighters fell, or apparently losing the game, they didn't even know that guy! That's pathetic!

The crowd psychology is real terrible, I must say.

* * *

After the events had been over, Ring Man sat next to me intentionally when we were in the car back to the house.

"Have your circuits been excited yet? Do you want earn some extra money?"

"I am always after some work if it pays well, but I am not dressing in that bee costume again."

"Of course not, I mean do you want to join in the fights? There is a big event coming up this Saturday night."

"Hell no, I am not interested in punching meat bags."

"The money is good this time, very good indeed." Metal Man jabs.

"How much?"

"A million."

Are you kidding me? A million? Does the mafia here earn too much money that they have nowhere to spend? I couldn't help myself, but my mind had already drifted on to the prize, which was real attractive. If I am able to get that money, things will be much easier for all of us. Perhaps I can buy "The company" off and get Wily back, and all I have to do is to beat up a couple of rotten human beings a little, that would even less risk than go robbing a bank!

No, wait, that's not possible; I mustn't lose my head over this. This is impossible for the big prize goes with no risk; there is no such thing as reap without sewing. There must have some serious plot behind it.

"Any risks?" I asked painstakingly.

"There is no risk for you! This time even robots are allowed to participate in the fights, but they are no match to you, even our former colleague Toad Man will join in."

Oh no, Toad Man. One of the robot masters I didn't like most. He didn't offend me in person; I simply dislike his face, a real living example of a failure in plastic surgery.

Apart from that, I have no problem to rip some robots apart; my fists were itching for action by the way. But I still have doubts on this whole thing, it's not that I don't trust these guys, they wouldn't dare to fool me. It's the mobsters I don't trust.

"I have to think about that."

* * *

The next morning, the trio Metal Man, Ring Man and Magnet Man, tried to convince me to join in the fight again. They sounded pretty edgy about it, and the way goes just like my estimation, it's time for me to push them a little.

"Cut that bullshit, how much I would actually get if I won the game."

The three looked at each other. They knew they had no choice but tell me the truth.

"About ten Gs." Magnet Man said reluctantly. This whole thing was just as I thought, is a fraud.

"How about you guys? How much you will get for recruiting fools to join in?"

"They said they are going to give us two thousand to find someone strong enough to take down everybody else on the ring." Ring Man replied sheepishly.

"You are getting two grand to save nine hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars for the Mafia?" I exploded; I grabbed on Metal Man's neck with one hand and pinned him against the wall, creating huge a dent on it. "Did you guys switch your brain circuits into coconuts?"

"Calm down, Proto! That's the offer they give us, we can't do anything about it." Both Ring Man and Top Man jumped up immediately, trying to hold me down.

So that's how it is! Alright, it's time for the boss to do some work for you guys.

* * *

A couple of days had passed, and finally I had decided to join the fight. That Saturday I did nothing during the day time but lay lazily on the old wooden beach chair on the backyard, a magazine covering my face. I just needed to be left alone; I needed a full recharge and had some peaceful time before the storm.

Two days ago I invaded the mafia casino alone, and I flew two bodyguard robots out of the window from the Mafia boss's office, which is on the twentieth floor. I nearly cast that mob boss out too, but I didn't, I only meant to scare him a little, and make a negotiation about my price for the fight I was going to participating in.

Of course, I didn't tell anybody about this, not even Top Man.

Originally I didn't want to get involved too deep in this; I don't want to harm anyone because of some stupid move, or kill anyone by mistake. I am doing this for money, a purely selfish act, it's not about to change the world or something. In my point of view, this sort of fight is meaningless, even dull.

This is wrong; my fighting abilities are not built for this. In fact, I don't want to participate in any of these stupid fights, but that moment I needed money, my colleagues also needed money as well, I had to compromise.

I told myself, I am doing it for this time, one time only.

In the evening, the robot masters came back to take me to the coliseum.

"We got the paid from the mob already; they gave us five thousand dollar for this!" Top Man said cheerfully when the pack came back. "Hey, Proto, are you ready for the fight?"

"I have told you not to call me that in public."

"Oh right, you have got a real majestic stage name, Mr. Jaguar Paws!" Ring Man laughs. "Are you going in with your bare hands? You need some protection!"

"We have signed you up on the human group; you must at least pretend to be one, tough guy! Maybe you should warp your fists with bandages."

I don't think the warping bandage is the best idea around, but he is right, I need something to protect my hands, the brewer is still on the medium finger of my left hand! That would be a disaster if it were broken during the fight.

Finally, I decided to use the elbow pads and a pair of cycling gloves, and that's not for protection, just for good looking.

* * *

Before the fight starts, I strolled around the preparation area to investigate what my opponents are. There were a lot of people in there: some bikers in leather jacket, muscles, boxers, thugs, bullies…all of the bad coconuts in one basket, I like it!

I spotted a thug wearing a pair of mechanical gloves looked pretty awesome. That would be good if I take it for myself…Hehe.

In this game, weapons are allowed for humans, but guns are forbidden, body guard and armor are allowed too. Too bad I couldn't put my armor on, that don't matter anyway, why do I need protection when I am the most dangerous one around?

In the corner of my eye, I saw something that caught my attention. A girl in here? That's incredible! She is not tall, not too strong either, short red hair, a pair shining blue eyes, her face was covered by a wrestling mask, which make me wonder what she looked like underneath that. Comparing with the thugs here, she seems to be very fragile. I was getting worry about her.

I couldn't get my eyes off the girl; I stared at her too long made she notice me and started to stare back at me. I walked away quickly; I just hoped she wouldn't get serious injuries in this game.

Ding Ding! The stage door has opened; its time for the show begins.

Once I walked out of the stage door along with other fighters, I found myself standing on a big oval platform, which is surrounded by water, there are wire nettings on the edge of the pool. We are going to fight in the middle of a pool!

"WELCOOOOOME to the coliseum! Tonight we are going to give you a very special show on the stage. There are over 150 hundred fighters on the stage, as you see, on the left side of the stage we have robot warriors, and on the right side there are human fighters. No matter what you are, there is only one rule in here: Anyone who fell into the water, or out of the stage will be eliminated. That means the last fighter who stands on stage is the winner!" The announcer announced the rules with his discordant male voice.

This is complete different from the cage fight I saw couple of days ago, but it sounded much easier than I thought, I only have to kick people off the stage, easy-peasy.

I am getting excited! That would be FUN, maybe even funnier than fighting Mega Man.

"All right people, it's time to place your bets! Let's see the odds, who will be our hottest horse in the house?"

The huge screen on the wall showed the top ten popular fighters according to the odds. Amazingly I saw Snake Man and Toad Man on it.

I know Toad Man would come tonight, I never thought Snake Man is here too.

I even saw my false name on the list; my ranking was 137 and the odd was 25.7, that's quite normal for a rogue like me, as they don't know who I really am… Toad Man and Snake were ranked 8 and 9, How come these two dump buckets gat such a high appreciation by the fact that they are so limp?

There is one more thing that made me feel strange; even Toad Man and snake Man are here. Then why Metal Man, Magnet Man and Ring Man were so enthusiastic on pushing me to join in, while they didn't come and fight instead? Something funky is going on around here.

Whatever that is, I am here already, it's not the time to look into that now.

"READY?" Here comes the annoying announcement voice again, waking me up from my thoughts. "GO!"

* * *

_DING!_

When the fight started, the arena totally a mess, people began to attack each other, some of the humans formed a team to fight against the robots. Suddenly someone on my back trying to hit me with a stick, I just turned around and caught it before it touches me, break it into two half with single hand, and kicked that guy off the stage.

I didn't want to harm these people, they were not my enemy, I was just doing this for a purely selfish purpose. So I had made a decision before I come, I am going to use the quickest way to knock them out.

Hit them on the back of their neck would be the easiest way, but if I hit them too hard, their neck will be broken, so I have to be careful. I definitely don't want this to happen, my conscience has been troubled enough already.

So many people think I am a kind of the cold-blooded killer with no conscience; at least I am sure my sister would think of me that way, maybe my brother think I am like that too. I don't know how to define the word "conscience", but I try not to harm humans if there is not necessary, threatening them would scare them off in most the situation. To accomplish something by the simplest way, it's my style.

After kicking a few thugs into the water, I spotted that guy with the mechanic gloves I wanted. Hoho, he has already been knocked out, lying on the center of the stage.

When I almost reach the guy, I was grappled by someone from the back, the force nearly lifted me up onto the air!

I know how to deal with this kind of assault; I turned my waist as hard as I could, then I used my arm to wrap around that person's head. I thought someone who can be able to do that must be a robot, or some muscles, I turned my head around to see who it is, it was that girl wearing a wrestling mask!

"He is mine, don't you interfere with that!" The girl threatened as she was still clenching my neck with her arm.

"Let go of me, I don't want to harm a female." I sneered; I didn't struggle, as I don't want to harm her.

"You will kick me out of the stage if I let go; I saw what you did to the others." She tightens her hold on my neck, even I can feel the power on her wrist, how come a human girl have such strength?

"I just want to take his gloves, and then I will leave you and him alone, I promise." I tried to convince her to let go.

"No, that gloves are mine, my father specially made it for me."

"Alright, alright, you take anything you like, just let me go."

"No, I am knocking you out; I won't trust any words from scumbags like you." She started to clench my neck harder with the sleeper's hold. Of course I wouldn't let and human girl take me down that easy, I have to fight back now.

"I am sorry; you made me do this." I jab both of my elbows backward, right towards the girl's ribcage, she instinctively let go of my neck and jumped backwards. Her reflexes were fast, faster than any other humans I have encountered; she must have been through combat training on martial arts or something.

As we parted each other, I saw someone was trying to attack her with a hammer, I ran over and pushed that guy on the face, I didn't even aware of I hit him too hard or not. That guy flied directly to the wire netting outside the pool, and then fell into the water.

Meanwhile, someone was trying to pursuit me with a baseball bat. The girl grappled the guy's arm quickly and threw him over her shoulder.

Wait, I have seen this move before, and I have been beaten up by this. It's Doctor Cossack, he used me as a training target during the days I stuck with him. There wouldn't be another guy can be able to do such things at all, may be….

I shook my head. No, this couldn't be. The picture Cossack showed me indicated that Kalinka had a beautiful long blonde hair, a set of blue eyes. Except the eyes, overall she is a complete different thing from the girl in front of me.

I needed to confirm my suspect, so I tried to get to her side while me and her still fighting the others.

"What's your name?" I asked her directly.

"What it is to you?"

"Just asking, you are the strongest girl I have ever met." I replied as I punched another guy's face. "Go get those gloves, I will provide cover for you."

The girl did not respond; she stared at me with misbelieve for a second, and then ran off to retrieve her gloves.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked as she was taking the gloves off the fallen thug.

"Do you need a reason to help someone?"

"Call me Terkina." She answers, and put the gloves on, "Let's team up, shall we?"

I smirked to myself unconsciously; I hadn't partnered with a human in combat, and this could be fun. At that moment, it's far too little for me to know, this partnership lasted much longer than I thought.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

_**Author's note: I hope you guys enjoy the fighting scene here.**_


	5. Chapter 4: LV Cage Fight, Part 2

**Chapter 4. LV cage fight, Part 2**

* * *

The fight was started for forty-five minutes already. I noticed the number of fighters on the stage was decreasing as the time went on; there were only half of the fighters were still standing, fighting for the one million dollar cash.

"Hey, treat me a meal, I mean **IF** you win this." Terkina asked, as she kicked a guy off the stage. "I just came here to get my gloves back."

So she was fighting for her precious gloves, not the money. That thing must be important to her; she must have a good relationship with her father. It would be great if you know someone is care about you.

It's been five years; I have always been dreaming when I will get my first gift. I was always wondering who would be the first one to send me a gift, and what kind of feeling I would have when I open it. Too bad I haven't received any yet. That made me think of my old scarf, my most precious yellow scarf…but it is not a gift, it was on me ever since I was activated. Did Wily give me that? I don't know, but it is my possession, the only thing that truly belongs to me, I was wearing it wherever I go. Until that incident…but even after it was burned by half, I am still bringing it with me. It is still on my neck right now, after some modifications done by Terkina and Roll, that's another story.

Except the scarf, Wily didn't give me anything; I still remember what he had told me on my first day alive:

"All I can give you is a shelter in here. In here you can have the energy you need, if you were broken I will fix you, but you have to straighten out the rest on your own."

The girl's voice suddenly jab into my thoughts, brought me back to reality, "I am asking your name, do you hear me?" I was startled, how could I allow myself drifted in the memory during a battle like this?

"Huh?" I was a little embarrassed by this, "I…uh…you can call me Jake."

* * *

A search snake suddenly flies past right next to me; it's Snake Man's weapon. I spun around and saw Snake Man was standing behind me.

"Get out of ssssstage if you were ssssssmart!" He didn't recognize me, too bad that his aiming is as bad as always; he rose up his blaster and tried to fire at me again.

I dashed towards him and dodged another search snake. One hand grappled his neck; another hand pushed his blaster away, and pinned him onto the ground. I could simply punch him out, but I didn't want to.

"Your weapon won't be able to hit me in a hundred years, Snake Man."

Snake Man is pretty slow for a robot master, and his body is lack of flexibility. I can say that his speed is at least three times slower than me.

"Pro…Proto Man? The news said you were…?" He finally realized who he was fighting. I let go of him; we both stood up.

"No, chit chat for now, I will explain after this."

Snake Man is a very quiet type of robot; he doesn't talk much. Maybe it's related to his hissing enunciation, make him lack of confidence to talk to people, I must admit it's sometimes annoying. I used to think he hated me with no reason, he was trying to avoid me every time I saw him. I hadn't been talk to him more than ten times over all those years. Maybe it is because Mega Man is my brother, so he hates me as well? I just can't figure it out.

Whatever the reason that is, being avoided by someone don't feel good. I hated it when it happened.

The annoying announcer was screaming in front of the loudspeaker again. "It's time to add more heat on this stage! Our seeded warrior is itching to wrap up the game of tonight!"

What? There is a seeded warrior? Metal Man had never told me that! I thought I only have to kick everyone out of the stage then and go home. Why does everything have to be THIS complicated?

"Here comes our invincible warrior: Uranus!"

A huge object jumped off from the ceiling and landed right in the center of the battleground, creating a powerful quake, even the concrete slates on the ground were shaken up. Nearly everyone on the stage was knocked down, a lot of fighters were knocked out of the stage, and made me and Snake Man fell on the ground too.

When I got back on my feet, I could finally see what the so-called seeded warrior looks like. He is very bulky, with orange armor and a pair of the big fist, there is a pair of golden horns on his head, made him looked very much like a buffalo.

I made a quick analysis on this opponent according to my combat experience. His armor seemed very thick, not even an armor piercer bullet can be able to get through it; he is bulky and has big fists, which indicates his main attack format should be performed by using brute force, like throwing things around and tackle.

That's not good. I wasn't sure if I can win him even with my armor and blaster. If it is a combat of physical strength, I don't think I would have any chances.

What should I do now?

* * *

"The one million dollar prize is hidden on Uranus's back, so fellow fighters, try get the prize off his back, good luck fighters!" The announcer continues.

Shit! They made things even more complicated than I thought! Now I know why the Metal Man trio was not coming to fight themselves.

The huge robot started to rampage on the stage; he crash toward the other fighters like a bulldozer, pushing people out of his way.

Terkina was right on the way of Uranus; she was struggling against another enemy, and probably didn't notice that bull was coming up.

I watched this in horror, but I had no time to figure out how to defeat this monster. All I know was she had just called me partner, I mustn't let her get crushed by this.

Without another second of hesitant, I ran toward the rampaging robot directly. I know that I didn't have enough power to stop this monster, but that is never a reason to stop me challenging something big, I didn't even know where the courage for such move came from. I used to laugh at Mega when he got crushed by a monorail car just to save Roll. I thought that was stupid, now I am doing the same stupid thing myself!

I pushed the girl out of the way, and caught Uranus's head butt, from the front!

My feet were screeching against the ground and still being pushed backward. The robot was so powerful that I couldn't stop the robot at once by my strength; he kept pushing me towards the end of stage. Finally, I stopped the motion before my feet reached the end of the ground, there were only few inches left.

Terkina was being pushed fiercely to the side by me, I did not know how hard was that push, but that didn't hurt her, I guess. She fell on the ground and watched my encounter with the monster in astonishment.

At that moment, the whole premises quiet down.

"You…you are not human." She whispered, still kneeling on the side.

"I will…explain later…this is not the target that you humans able to fight with, get off the stage, NOW!"

"NO!" the girl protested, "I'm not leaving while you are still fighting."

Damn it. Don't you see that I am busy handling a monstrosity right here? I don't have time to deal with your ego.

"Snake Man!" I shouted, "Throw her into the water!"

Snake Man maybe has a little grudge on me, but he is loyal and obedient, at least to me he is. He gave a hard push towards the girl at once, before Terkina had time to protest anymore.

"SSSSSSSSorry Missssssss." He hisses

"Wait, I…"

Splash!

At that moment I didn't have a concern that she can swim or not, luckily Toad Man was down there to catch her.

"Protect her! Or I will rip you apart myself!" I ordered.

"Yes, rabitttt!" Toad Man said as he gave me salute.

"This isn't any domestic robot can handle neither!" The girl yelled back, after she was disqualified, of course.

Sure, too bad I am not a domestic robot, at least not an average one like the others.

My component seemed to realize this as well.

"You are not human or domestic robot, who are you?" Uranus bellowed. We parted each other.

Of course I wouldn't tell him my real name, so I answered with taunt. "I am your daddy."

"You will call me daddy after this!"

"There is no reason for us to fight; I just want the money on you."

"You are tricked. Let me tell you something, there is no money on me." he said and held up his huge fist. "You scum are only here to get smashed by me."

Ha! You think I didn't know that? I robbed that money off the mafia already! The only reason for me to come was because the promised I made to Metal Man, and they won't be able to get paid if I am not coming.

Even if those factors above do not exist, I am still not the one who will flee the battle, that's not my character. Not even when there is no chance to win. I am no deserter.

Perhaps there is no reason to win for now, but there are people still looking up to me. Snake Man was still on the stage, Toad Man and Terkina were looking me in the water, and there were Top Man, Metal Man, Ring Man and Crystal Man watching me on the grandstand, plus all the audiences in the whole premise. How could I face them if I bailed for now?

* * *

His fist hit on the ground hardly where I was standing; I rolled out of the way quickly to dodge the attack.

I did expect this hit wasn't meant to go for me but created a quake on the ground. I once again being shook off my feet, made me fell on my elbow.

I didn't even have time to get back on my feet. Uranus pulled up a big piece of concrete slate on the floor; it was about 3 square meter large, and trust it towards me directly.

I rolled out of the way to avoid being hit; I don't think my fists were hard enough to take that piece of slate down, unless I have my blaster.

But I didn't have my blaster or armor, that piece of slate hit the netting which separating the stage and the grandstand, creating a huge dent on the netting. The audiences behind that area were horrifying to escape. Lucky for them there was a relatively strong net stands between them and the battleground, otherwise the consequences would be fatal.

I didn't have time to care about the others; I found that only me, Uranus and Snake Man were still on the stage. That's great, now I can fight without worries.

After a few round, I noticed that Uranus kept creating quakes by jumping on the ground, made his foe fell on their knees and then he began pulls off the slates on the ground and throw it them, that's his own attack sequence. That's not a hard thing to read.

But there was no way to win if I just run and dodge, this guy must have some weakness.

"Hey, partner!" It's the voice of Terkina, she was riding on Toad Man's head. "Use my gloves; it will help increase your strength." And then she threw her gloves towards me.

Increase strength? Those two words were echoing in my head, if I can able to gain the same or even more strength than he is, then there is a chance for me to win this battle. I maybe didn't have any weapons right now. But I always got a function on me that I seldom use: the weapon copying system.

I hurried to run over to catch the gloves. "Thanks, 'partner.'"

"Kick his ass!"

"I will," I smirked; I already know what to do next.

Let me explain a little about how the weapon duplicating system works. It is a special ability that only I and my brother have. The coping device was installed in our hands; it can connect with our plasma cannon when we are in our armor, but it still works when we are not wearing armor as well. There are three main procedures on that system: absorb, duplicate and switch. We can also choose to run either one of them or two or all three procedures at the same time, but that have to be decided before we trigger it. My brother usually uses all three functions at the same time; that would make an advantage for him to fight us all by himself. I don't like to use it; I only used once; I copied Guts Man's weapon and punched my brother through the wall. The only reason for me didn't use it again is I want to show everyone that I can also win him without using the robot masters weapons.

By the way, that's immoral to steal your allies' weapon for your own uses, right?

For what I am going to do now, is to take his strength, to be precise, to gain my power. Duplicating someone else's weapon won't take away his weapon ability; that would only disable it temporary. When something provides advantage, that means the risk goes up as well; there are limitations on using the weapon duplicating system. That would be a great challenge to touch Uranus's arm without being hit, plus if I didn't use the weapon well, a huge amount of energy would be lost.

I love challenges, let's see if it works.

* * *

I put one of the gloves on my right hand, and leave my left hand bare, I can't have something to block the connection between my hand and the target when I launch the weapon duplicating system. Uranus was already performing another strike at me; he ran towards me and uses his elbow to push me to towards the edge of the stage.

This time I didn't dodge, I used all my power to catch his elbow by both of my hands. That would be the greatest chance ever.

"You are getting my power!" He yelled, took a few steps backward. Then I put on the other glove on my left hand, now I am equipped with all the winning elements I needed. It's payback time.

"I am going to smash you into pieces!" He bellowed.

He ran towards me again and swung his huge fist to the air, trying to draw a powerful punch onto me. At the same time, I swung my fist towards him.

Our fists collided with each other, like a crash between two bisons. Only the stronger ones would still stand after this.

Uranus was sent backwards after the hit; merely manage to stop his heels from falling into the water.

"How could that be?" he yelled.

My energy level had a sharp drop to thirty percent. The power-enhancing type of ability is using up a lot of energies, as I expected. It means I must take him out in the next shot, or I am dead.

The bull began to pull off the slate on the ground and throw them towards me again, then he thrust towards me, and made a powerful hit on the ground. Once again, I had been shaken off my feet. This time he was too close for me to dodge, he grabbed one of my arms and held me up onto the air.

"You are a good fighter for a domestic robot, but it's over for you."

Right at the time, three search snakes Snake Man were fired off from the right side, and bite on the back of Uranus's knee joint, made him kneel down and let go of me. I dropped onto the ground. I get back on my feet quickly, and go around to Uranus's back while he was busy to get rid of the snakes on his leg.

"Snake Man, I owe you one." I thought to myself.

I used Uranus's back as a springboard, jumped high above his head. He ignored the snakes on his leg and noticed me coming up from above him, and then tried to draw his punch at me to intercept my attack. I decided to boost up all of my remaining power to perform this hit.

Uranus's huge fist missed me; it just grazed my shoulder, tearing off one of my sleeves. I hit him hard on his head. That was the most powerful punch I that I had ever made; I could even feel my joints were going to crack. Uranus's head crashed on the ground hardly, making the whole stage split open into two half.

* * *

The bull laid on the ground and remained still, thank god; I triumphed the monstrosity! And the sound of cheer and hand claps blasted in the whole coliseum. That's the sound I have longed for over the years, music to my ears.

I didn't even have the energy to keep myself standing. I dropped on to the ground, breathing harshly, and my left arm hurt like it had been struck by thunder. My body wasn't responding to me anymore.

There was a message appeared in my head:

**Caution, energy remaining less than 1%, the shutdown procedure will be reinforced to start after ten seconds, time left: 10…**

No! I haven't heard enough of the cheering sound of my life yet!

**9…**

And I haven't won the fight yet! Snake Man was still on the stage…

**8…**

My visions became blurred; the last thing I saw was the dazzling spotlight hanging on the ceiling, and it was getting faint, and then became infernal darkness.

**7…**

I could still hear the annoying announcer's discordant voice before I passed out…

**6…**

"The fight is over! And the winner of tonight is…."

**5…**

"Snake Man!"

**4…**

No! I am the one who defeat that bull; everyone sees it. I should be the winner…

**3…**

That's…not fair.

**2…**

So tired…

**1…**

I hate this.

**0.**

* * *

_To be continued…_


End file.
